Winning Poems
If You're a Poet, We Want to Know it! 2019 Volume 7 - Together
Winning Poems
1st Place—Child Category
Together - a poem about me and my mum
You and me together,
We will never be apart.
Together we will be,
Like from the very start.
Zachary Gibson
Judges' comments: “A poem about love. And a lovely Mum. Absolutely delightful. And a very special, sensitive young writer.
“Honest, warm, heartfelt truth”
2nd Place—Child Category
Fish In A Tree Poem
Fish in a tree, Fish in a tree, please share with me,
A tale of Ally who can’t read, and Shay, with undesirable greed.
Mr. Daniels with his kind heart, and Albert, who is very smart.
Keisha has baking skills, while Ally’s dad does military drills.
Jessica, oh she loves her friend, why, the characters just never end.
When she thought her brain was just a mess, she turned out to be good at chess.
With Mr. Daniels and her friends hope, she might even learn to cope.
As her tests were now fun and games, Ally’s life was no longer rain.
Ailie Ironside
Judges' comments: “I was so impressed with Fish in a tree- I loved its superb use of words and mixture of everything. Emotion, kindness, friendship. Poetry should make you think about different things and give itself to interpretation, which this does so well, also beautiful to read out-loud. Loved it, a true writer here”
“Witty, clever with excellent pace”
3rd Place—Child Category
A Letter to Mr Fluffy
I miss you when I’m in school.
I’m happy to bring you to holidays.
You sound weird and I laugh.
I’m glad I met you when you were just a little pup.
Now you’re a grown dog,
Oh Mr Fluffy, I don’t know why you fart in the tub.
We play silly games and hero adventures.
I love to cuddle you. To me, you are real.
You’re my best toy friend in the world.
Oh Mr Fluffy, I wish we grow old together.
Kal-El Martinez
Judges' comments: “Warm and funny and a classic tale of the love of a childhood joy”
“A heart warming & childhood poem. Completely smile evoking:
1st Place—Teen Category
Euphoria
The serendipity of abandoning all he'd known
These friends he'd met, oh how they'd grown
Together they'd been for years to mend
Their broken souls, but it came to an end
Two found themselves victim to their own form of harm
Two bravely fought, now found behind bars
Two drowning in tears in hospital gowns
One left by himself, without the family he'd known
But he'll mend the past and save their past euphoria
And they'll be together forever in their home in utopia
Tae Tae Lemana
Judges' comments: “We love the imaginary & the story-telling in this poem”
2nd Place—Teen Category
Not so together
I trip, fall and scrape my knee
I'm fine, just wish my whole class wasn't there to see.
I turn up to school soaking wet
Broken umbrella and teacher upset, honestly, how much worse could it get.
I climb a tree and forget i'm wearing a skirt
fall head first, ow that really hurt!
Sometimes you don't have it all together, my Mother might say,
but in tough situations you always find a way.
Olivia Groube
Judges' comments: “Like the take on the theme, we could relate to the feeling of being not so together. Plus it made us smile”
3rd Place—Teen Category
To be together
To be together
It is to disregard division
It is to riot against evil
It is to kneel down to give aid
It is to be polite
It is to be civil
But mostly it is to be Human
Iain Scotcher
Judges' comments: “Liked the message & the simplicity of the form”
1st Place—Adult Category
We wake together
As Ranginui rubs celestial dust from his eyes,
stars are silently flashing.
The night, noisy with the sounds,
listening to Tangaroa roar.
Waves, crashing on the shore,
racing to embrace the coral.
Papatanuku wakes from her sweet repose.
It is you my brother,
hanging motionless in repose, we wake together.
M. Morris-Denize
Judges' comments: The use of Māori mythology combined with a sensitive observation of the natural world and the way the theme is embodied make for a unique, quality poem.
There is also a strong sense of sound through the choice of words. This gives the poem a feeling of life and movement.
2nd Place—Adult Category
Baking
I perch on a high stool in Nanna's ribbon kitchen,
my red throne in her empire. She measures in palms
and carefree glances. Sugar and flour dunes rise
in a Pyrex ocean. Butter pebbles scattered on top stick
to fingertips like wet sand. There is no elbow room.
We rub shoulders crumbling ingredients together
and she whispers a secret - she never uses that jug
my mother bought her, with its red ladder of metric.
Nanna's jug is blue, polished stoneware, milk etched
in white script. She fills it to a pint, and lets me pour.
Trish Veltman
Judges' comments: A charming picture of a lucky child baking with her grandmother, with seaside imagery and a clever twist at the end.
It’s a lovely representation of the relationship between grandmother and grandchild.
3rd Place—Adult Category
A Nod
There’s something beautiful,
About the simple exchange of a nod between motorcyclists
A nod of acknowledgement
Of, we share this road
We are equals
This simple exchange of,
You are not better than me
But the softest yin and yang,
Opposite directions
Paige Bolland
Judges' comments: An unusual subject – motorcyclists riding in opposite directions but still acknowledging one another --- reminds the reader of the many ways we can experience togetherness. We also get an observation that while we might be experiencing something together, we’re all headed toward our own individual destinations.